I made this as a decoration for our sukkah and just wanted to make it available to any other crafters who might want to make use of it for their own sukkah.

If you don't know what a sukkah is, you probably don't need it. LOL, but the short answer is that it is a temporary dwelling that is part of one of the Autumn Jewish holiday celebrations. (You might have heard it referred to as the feast of tabernacles -- the sukkah being the tabernacle.) The lulav and esrog (citron) play a role in the prayer services for the holiday, which is called "Sukkot" (the plural of sukkah) No instructions, but the layering should be pretty obvious if you study the picture. If you celebrate Sukkot, "Chag Sameach!"

If you download this project, please consider a small donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. As a patient dealing with a form of this disease, I would very much love to see them benefit from the downloads. You would be doing a great good deed along with the crafting.

The mini-aquarium is a fun project that can be made using acetate and 8.5"x11" cardstock. The lid holds lights to brighten up your evening.

It is a little over 7" tall, 8" wide and 6" deep. The included assembly notes contains the list of supplies and some instructions,

You can download the cut file for this zinnia here. Some construction notes: I used pink cardstock and used a bleach and water solution to fade out the petals outside area. NOTE: some papers do not bleach well. Test yours. You can also just use an acrylic paint in a much lighter color than your petals. Or leave them solid. Before assembling, I used ball tools to cup and curl the petals . The last layer or two (the largest petals) were cupped to bend downward. I also bent the two largest sets (medium large and large) at the edges with a bamboo skewer to add interest. This was the same technique that Leo showed in his "Gorgeous Gardenias" on Dreaming Tree ( 3dsvg.com ) --check them out if you have not yet done so. There are some terrific designs there.

Shaping and bending the petals is the most time consuming part of this. To assemble, place the dark stamens on wire first, the yellow "split" stamens around them. then layer the petals, staggered, in size smallest to largest. Add the sepal and use florist tape to add the leaves.

This aster was inspired by having done some projects over at Dreaming Tree (check out the wonderful designs there: 3dsvg.com ) I wanted to try my hand at designing some additional flowers, and to share them.